Texas Tech basketball: 5 questions to be answered as practice begins

Will McClung be granted his waiver

The one question that Texas Tech basketball fans want to be answered immediately concerns the eligibility of Georgetown transfer Mac McClung.  Despite filing a waiver for immediate eligibility months ago, the dynamic guard is still waiting to hear from the NCAA as the season nears.

This year, there has been an unprecedented number of waivers granted across the nation and that’s given Red Raider fans hope that McClung will eventually be cleared to play this season.  However, last year’s debacle with forward Joel Ntambwe has given everyone reason for concern.

If you remember, Ntambwe was the only one of five players to have transferred from UNLV last offseason who did not receive a waiver. It was believed that the resistance to Ntambwe’s departure by the people in Vegas played a huge role in that decision.

There isn’t as much acrimony between Georgetown and Tech as there was between UNLV and Chris Beard given their history.  But McClung and his former head coach Patrick Ewing did not part on the greatest of terms.

The falling out between the two reportedly stemmed from the fact that Ewing publically said this offseason that McClung would return to Georgetown and not head to the NBA.  However, at the time Ewing made those remarks, McClung had not either made his final decision or had not announced it on his own terms thus meaning that Ewing undermined the professional prospects of his player.

There’s no telling if that situation is enough to warrant a waiver from the NCAA because there simply is no defined criteria.  However, one would think that it gives McClung a great case to argue.

Make no mistake, the Red Raiders truly plan on McClung being part of this year’s team.  And should he be part of the equation, he will provide Tech with some much-needed scoring punch as well as being a potential closer down the stretch.

Last year, he averaged 15.6 points per game at Georgetown and he is the type of play-making guard that this program lacked a season ago.  Thus, everyone is keeping a close eye on what happens with his waiver.